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Kangaroo interrupts Australian soccer match, refuses to leave field

In this June 24, 2018, photo, a kangaroo interrupts the Women’s Premier League between Belconnen United and Canberra FC match in Canberra for over 30 minutes. (Lawrence Atkin/Capital Football via AP)

A women’s soccer match in Canberra, Australia, had a surprise visitor on Sunday afternoon — and that visitor didn’t have any intention of leaving the field.

An eastern gray kangaroo found its way into a soccer stadium around halftime of the Canberra Football Club’s match against Belconnen United in the nation’s capital, and was hanging out between the stands and the field.

Then, the marsupial decided it wanted to be part of the action and bounded his way onto the field, delaying the match for more than a half hour.

The kangaroo planted himself in front of one of the goals, and was oblivious to multiple attempts to get him to move. He ignored officials attempting to scare him away, and was unmoved by multiple soccer balls tossed his way.

Then, at one point, the Belconnen United coach hopped in a truck and started chasing the kangaroo around the field before he finally directed it out of the stadium through an open gate.

“It was just a real menace,” Canberra FC official Amber Harvey told USA Today on Monday. “A few people came close to it to see if they could maybe get it to move on. It stood up pretty tall. I think it was just over six feet, so they backed off pretty quickly. But I don’t think anyone was alarmed too much by it.”

Belconnen United won the match 2-0 after the kangaroo was finally removed from the field more than 30 minutes later.